Fuel savings that would help families

Fuel prices are out of sight. Groceries cost families more and more each week. The housing market is in the tank. For most Illinoisans the bottom line keeps getting tighter and tighter.

That's why, as state lawmakers, when we see an opportunity to offer real relief for families, however so slight, we need to jump at the chance to serve the people of Illinois.

Under the proposed sales and use tax exemption in SB 2570, the savings realized on $4 per-gallon gas would be at least 10 cents per gallon - which equates to $1.50 in savings on a 15-gallon fill up. Higher savings would be realized in areas that have local sales and use taxes imposed.

In April the Senate passed SB 2570 unanimously and now its progress has been stalled in the Illinois House Rules Committee.

While the savings resulting from this proposal is 10-cents per gallon, over time those dimes add up for a family trying to put food on the table and pay those fast-rising utility bills.

Let's do the right thing for Illinois families. At our next opportunity, let's get this bill out of the rules committee and on the governor's desk.

State Sen. Kirk W. Dillard

Hinsdale

Illinois Senate Republican Whip